William e



(No Model.)

W. E. SPARKS.

DOOR LATCH.

No. 273.403. Patentd Mar. a, 1883.

latches.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. SPARKS, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE RUSSELL & ERWIN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

DOOR-LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,403,'dated March 6, 1883.

Application filed August 21, 1882'. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I,WILL1AM E. SPARKS, of New Britain, in the county oti Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in In my improved latch there is a lever pivoted to the side of the latch-bolt, near the middle of its length, and having a projecting pin which bears upon an incline attached to and inside of the latch-case; and the objects of my improvements are to cause the latchbolt to work smoothly and easily, and to so construct the parts that they may be made at a very small cost. I attain these objects by the Simple construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figurel is a-front elevation of my latch, with the cap-plate broken away. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of said latch on line a: m of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a like view of a part thereof, rep- I resented with the latch 'pushed into the case.

The latch-bolt A may be connected tothe spindle-hubB in any ordinary manner. Upon one side of the latch-bolt A-the upper side, as shown in the drawingsthere is a pin or projection, a, near the middle of the length of said bolt, upon which pin I hang the swinging lever C. The contour of this lever and its po sition relatively to the latch-bolt are clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, those parts of the lever which are behind other parts being indicated by broken lines. A projection or pin, 1), is formed on or secured to the lever C, and extends into working position over the face of the stationary incline 0, formed on or secured to one of the side walls of the case D, and within the case. The case is chambered sufficiently to allow free play to the lever C. When the 40 latch-bolt is forced inward by the keeper thelatter first engages the face d of the lever, and

thereby forces the projection 1) against the face resents the same as forced inward under the influence of the keeper.

I am aware that Patent No. 26,296, November29,l859,shows a latch with a lever pivoted to the side of the latch-bolt, with the back edge of the lever at the outer end bearing upon the side wall of a hole formed in one of the side plates of the latch-case, and the same is hereby disclaimed. My improvement thereon avoids 6o slotting or perforating the side of the case and brings the incline and working-side project ion of the lever wholly within the case.

I claim as my invention- The combination of the case having the sta tionary incline on one of its side walls, and Within the case, the latch-bolt and the lever hung thereon, having the working projection which extends from one side of said IBV'BIIUIO working position over the face of the incline, 0 substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

- WILLIAM E. SPARKS.

Witnesses T. S. BISHOP, M. S. VVIARD. 

